


Seasick

by Emporianne



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Gen, but they'll all mostly be standalone drabbles, could be read as platonic or shippy, i may add some more snippets taking place in the same boat ride, takes place in the timeskip in zed issue 5 when they're going to piltover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:13:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23646742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emporianne/pseuds/Emporianne
Summary: The trip from Ionia to Piltover is a long one.
Relationships: Shen & Zed (League of Legends)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

Zed stood, hunched over the side of an Ionian cargo ship. His face was buried in his crossed arms, an attempt to block the sting of salt air with the sleeves of his Piltover-style coat. The taste of bile lingered in the back of his throat. His head spun, threatening him with the sensation of nearly being thrown over the side of the vessel each time it rocked.

“Seasick?” Shen asked. His approach had been inaudible until he spoke. He stopped beside Zed and rested his forearms on the railing of the ship leisurely.

“No.”

“Good. We’ve still got at least another two weeks to go after all. Would be a true shame if you spent the whole trip feeling ill.”

Zed lifted his head and squinted at Shen as though trying to decide whether or not he was a hallucination. The dark circles under his eyes, more prominent now than ever, made even his confusion seem like a glare. Shen matched him with a flat expression.

“Funny,” Zed replied at last, dropping his head back into his arms.

“Akali said I should try it more often.”

Even in his muddled, vertigo state Zed didn’t need to look back up to tell Shen must’ve had an amused grin on his face; it practically dripped from his tone. Whether that amusement came from talking of his once-student or reveling in Zed’s blatant misery, though, was unclear.

They stood like that for a while, side by side in silence. The ship rocked gently like the swing of a pendulum, keeping time as the minutes passed. The sea breeze swept past them, bringing Zed the brief respite he’d been desperately looking for above board. Though, the more clarity he managed to wrestle back from his seasickness, the stranger he felt. It was an odd, tense peace that hovered between them, made all the stranger by how impossible it should’ve been.

_This, too, is temporary_ , he reminded himself. His thumb swept over the faded bruise on his left eye. _This is not forgiveness._

Zed jolted as he felt Shen’s foot tap his ankle lightly. “You should go lay down. Standing up for so long isn’t going to make the seasickness any better.”

“I don’t want to go back to the room.” Their _shared_ room. Most ships going from Ionia to Piltover were cargo ships, not meant to carry many passengers, and money couldn’t buy an extra room that simply didn’t exist. “Feels like I’m suffocating in there.”

Shen turned around, leaning his back against the railing as he searched the deck. Zed turned his head as well, looking over his shoulder to try and catch whatever it was Shen seemed to be looking for.

“Just lay down here, then,” He replied at last. “Nobody else is up here.”

It was a benign enough suggestion. Zed knew any argument he could try to make would’ve been entirely arbitrary. With a half-hearted shrug in response, Zed dropped into a sitting position.

“I’m not putting my head on that floor,” He said, grimacing as though the deck had personally offended him.

Shen made a quiet, breathy noise and if Zed was bold enough he would’ve thought it was an aborted laugh. Shen sat down as well and, without warning, he reached around Zed to place a hand lightly on his shoulder. Zed stiffened, his head snapping to look Shen in the eyes, searching for an explanation for the inexplicable touch. Shen’s expression gave little away but the soft, tentative tug on Zed’s shoulder gave him his cue.

  
_This, too, is not forgiveness_ , he reminded himself again even as he leaned over, laying his head on Shen’s shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may be adding to this sometime soon since there was a conversation about Yevnai I couldn't find a place for here. And there's...so...so much else I want to explore that I think could fit in a few weeks - month long boat ride where they basically have nothing to do except wait around and be next to each other.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one where they talk about Yevnai.

Shen sat cross-legged on his bed, posture relaxed. His hands rested on the spirit sword on his lap; the familiar weight of it was a good anchor for his meditation in such an unfamiliar place. Zed lay in the bed across the room, hands folded under his head. There was a rectangular porthole situated between their beds, letting in a sickly grey light. Silence hung between them, heavy and uncomfortable like the humidity in the room.

In a sudden motion, Zed sat up.

“I spoke to Yevnai,” He said.

Shen didn’t seem to react for a few moments. He drew in a deep, slow breath and opened his eyes, easing out of his meditation. “Is that so?” He asked as he set his sword beside him. “What about?”

“I needed to ask how to find you.”

“I can’t imagine she was too happy about that.”

Zed winced. “She wasn’t. I apologized too.”

“And?”

“She didn’t take it.”

“That’s well deserved.”

Zed looked at Shen for the first time in the hours they’d been in the room together. There was a small on Shen’s lips. It was difficult to tell in the dim lighting but it seemed to be a sad one. “You know, she said something very similar,” Zed murmured.

“Perhaps we have very similar thoughts on you.”

Zed hoped not.

When he had visited Yevnai, she had been cordial. Too much so. The pain he had caused her was gone - she’d recovered and moved on long ago. She spoke to him as though he were a visitor in her life, a passing figure to come and go and never be seen again. Shen, on the other hand… Zed remembered the rage of their first meeting in years. Even more than that, he remembered the crack in Shen’s voice, just before he blacked out on the beach.

It was selfish of him to find hope in Shen’s anger, his pain. Zed knew this. Yet, a part of him couldn’t help but take solace in the fact that, despite the years, Shen had not relegated him to a distant memory.

Cutting with his words as he was, Zed knew better than to say it out loud. Instead, he slid his legs off the side of his bed, sitting up now and leaning ever so slightly towards Shen. “She told me you still write. Even after you called off the engagement?”

“Yes. Unlike you, we ended on more...amicable terms. It felt right to keep in touch,” He replied, his words slow and careful. “I think it was good for both of us to still have a confidant.”

Zed hummed in response. Somehow that felt like a jab at him. It probably was.

“Is this all you interrupted my meditation to say?”

“You’ve been meditating for hours.”

“Yes,” Shen replied, mirroring his matter-of-fact tone, “and I’d like to meditate for a few more.” The smile Shen had now was more amused now. Cheeky, even.

“Fine,” Zed sighed, holding his hands up in exasperated mock surrender. “I’ve spent too much time lying here anyway. I’ll leave you to it.” He stood up and made his way to the door.

“You know, you could probably do with meditating as well.”

Zed paused in his tracks. It was hard to tell if that was more prodding or an invitation. Shen gave no more away through his expression, he’d already turned to place his sword back atop his lap. Zed decided it didn’t matter which it was. “Maybe later,” he answered, swinging the door open with a creak and leaving.

It wasn’t likely he’d have been able to meditate anyway. There was something on his mind now, after their talk. Thoughts and resurfaced memories he didn’t want to be stuck in a room with.


End file.
